The Eternal Game - Paused
by Kaiimei
Summary: She never asked for this. Appearing in the universe of RWBY as Neopolitan, Layla was ready to settle in and simply exist as a Slum Child. Fate, it seemed, had other plans, and a chance encounter with danger ended up unlocking powers beyond measure. All Layla had to do was try to not fuck the plot up too badly...It was a good thing she liked stabbing stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**...I'm not even gonna bother defending myself this time around. Hope you all enjoy!**

**This story is probably only gonna be one or two chapters for the foreseeable future, just a warning for y'all! Also, the first chapter is gonna set some stuff up in a really quick and dirty manner, because I need to get this sorted out. So if some stuff seems dumb, just...go along with it for now, please.**

**Also, Imperial Problems, Imperial Solutions Chapter 1 is also being worked on, so you guys can look forward to that if it's your cup of tea (It's in the Mosh-Pit on my profile along with all my other weird and wacky ideas).**

'Text'** \- Layla speaking in her mind.**

"Text" **\- Normal speech or writing.**

**Text - Game-entity speaking to Layla.**

_**Text -**_** Game plain-text explanation to Layla.**

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

"Stupid bitch!"

A boot slammed into her face, and Layla glared back at the man who was sneering down at her. All she did was bump into him on the way past, he was barely moved. "Fuck you." She spat, getting a pull on her long hair for her words.

"You say something, bitch?" The ugly man yanked her face up to head-height, trying to force her to make eye-contact. Layla knew what the bastard holding her up was capable of, she'd heard stories from the other slum kids about how he'd come into the slums, force some poor kid to look him in the eyes, then he'd start ordering them around like a fucking dog. They'd still be able to yell and try to run away, but he could simply command them to stop, and they'd freeze in fucking place.

Layla didn't believe it. RWBY canon never had a Semblance like that. There were some scary ones like Emerald's or Neo's, but one that gave mind control when you met someone's eyes? That seemed just a bit ridiculous. Didn't stop her from trying to keep his eyes away from her. "Stop squirming you little slut." A vicious backhand dazed Layla for a few moments, and in those moments he forced an eye open and met it with his gaze. "There, now stop fucking squirming."

She tried to continue, but it was like her body refused to even move slightly. "Y...you bastard! FUCK YOU! LET ME GO!" The man backhanded her again, growling.

"Shut the fuck up! You know what, just stop fucking talking!" Layla opened her mouth to yell again, but as no sounds came from her lips, she blinked at the man, who had a smug look on his face. "There, that fucking shut you up now didn't it?"

Sure, not being able to talk completely silenced Layla, but that wasn't why she just blinked emptily.

**Xachs Menshun - Level 27**

**Class: Criminal/Body-snatcher**

There was...text, just floating above the man's head.

**Well, this is a rather...compromising situation now isn't it, 'Layla'?**

Floating text appeared before her eyes, and Layla skimmed it quickly, remaining limp within her captor's arms. It was quite lucky he ordered her to stop squirming or her inactivity would be quite suspicious. 'Uhh, hello?'_ S_he thought, watching the text blink out and re-appear in a different structuring.

**Hello there. Oh, you are so much more polite than my previous user. Now, I'm sure you'd rather this man not take you to his intended destination, aye?**

Layla mentally nodded in agreement quickly. Never mind the fact that his armpits stunk, the title of Body-snatcher did not bode well to Layla's future.

**Well then, allow me to help you.**

The girl waited limply for a few moments, before feeling something powerful flooding her body. Able to move again, she immediately shoved her arms against her captor, breaking his grasp. "Wha-" Was all he managed to say before Layla viciously snapped his neck, not allowing him a moment to force her to stop fighting back. 'Thanks.'

'...Oh fuck.' Layla looked at the corpse in horror. Her voice wasn't back. She could move, so his order to stop squirming was removed, but her voice wasn't...she couldn't fucking speak! 'Hey, what the fuck is going on?' She yelled into her mind.

**Wow, I help you get free from a life of imprisonment and slavery, and what do I get? Yelled at. So ungrateful. Just for that, I'm not giving you a tutorial. Have fun trying to figure out these powers on your own!**

'Hey, you get back here you motherfucking son of a bitch, you fucking caused this!' Her mental yell went unanswered, and a shiver went through her body as she realized the full implications of what her little tantrum caused.

Layla knew video game mechanics, she played a lot of games on her own. The problem was she didn't really play MMORPGs or really RPGs in general, she was more of a first-person-shooter and Milsim girl. Spotting the corpse on the ground, she bit back her revulsion with surprising ease and stepped tentatively towards the body. Kneeling down, Layla pawed through his pockets, retrieving a wallet with an assortment of Lien cards valued at about 3300 Lien total, or roughly £38.

Alongside that, he had a switchblade, which Layla quickly pocketed, a protein bar, some random string, and most importantly, a standard-issue scroll. Layla had seen these devices around, quite a few citizens used them. As a slum child, she never got the chance to even look at one. Understandable, but it was frustrating being to close to such amazing technology, and never getting the chance to even look at it.

Patting the rest of his pockets and finding nothing of note, Layla hurried away from the secluded area before anybody stumbled across her. It'd be bad news if a Hunter of the Police found her when she was looting a corpse. Huh, it was funny how well she was taking that. Layla had never killed somebody else in either of her past lives and yet even after she snapped someone's neck in cold blood, she barely cared.

Sure, he was an evil kidnapping criminal who probably abused his Semblance for all it was worth before turning his charges over, but still, Layla expected to feel at least something, anything at all. Walking through the streets of Vale as she pondered this, she quickly found her way out beyond the farms and across fields and forests to The Nest, her home away from...well, everything. Layla was a Slum Child, born to a mother who died when she was barely old enough to fend for herself. If she didn't have the experience of a previous life she would have almost certainly followed her mother to that grave.

What that ended up meaning was that she barely had somewhere to call home before, and after her mother died, that home was immediately taken over, with her being booted out by those bigger and scarier than she was. Not willing to risk trying to simply make a new home within the Slums, Layla wandered around for a while in Vale, sleeping wherever she could find shelter and dumpster-diving for anything to help her survive until she found the nest.

It was out in the Agricultural side of Vale, an old abandoned watchtower far beyond where people usually ventured but still within the colossal area the walls encompassed, held up by a metal framework supported with stone, and built sturdy enough to survive an Ursa crashing into it. Nobody had visited the tower in presumably years, and so Layla had turned it into her home. There were dirty but comfortable covers she scavenged from dumpsters, a few scuffed-up bits of random furniture left lying around outside homes, even a small bookshelf lined with worn-out but still perfectly legible books people tossed out.

And it was all hers. Nobody even knew it existed apart from Layla. As she slumped down onto her pile of covers, she finally relaxed for a moment, letting the events of the day play out. She almost got captured by a Body-snatcher, she got saved by some weird entity which freed her from the Semblance and gave her enough strength to snap the man's neck, and now she was back home, safe.

With a snap of her fingers, Layla recalled the numerous Fanfictions she had read, detailing this exact situation. 'Uhh, stats!' She called out mentally. Nothing happened. 'Okay, what about...status?' Again, nothing popped up. 'Grr. Menu. Screen. Options. Tutorial. Inventory.' Inventory seemed to work, and a big screen appeared before her eyes, with dozens of empty grey boxes blankly hovering before her. 'Cool.' She vocalized to herself. 'Hmm, maybe...help?'

Another menu popped up, detailing information in a big list like Locations, Quests, Experience, so on and so forth. Pushing the experience one at random, the screen expanded, with a wall of text appearing, causing Layla's eyes to glaze over slightly. 'Oh fucking hell, I really hate RPGs.'

_**EXP, or Experience, is the way in which the player is measured for progression within The Game. Many actions will give the player experience, from defeating enemies, completing quests, gathering resources, crafting items, passing skill checks, exploring, traini-"**_

Layla skimmed past all the different ways to get experience, committing a few to memory as she skimmed down to the next part of the text.

_**Experience will eventually hit a cap, at which point it is decided the player has progressed enough to 'Level-up!' This will grant the player one Attribute Point, one Proficiency point, 10 Health Points, 10 Aura Points, and will fully heal the player, removing all negative debuffs at the same time. This does not include permanent status afflictions like missing limbs, digits, organs, and so on. The level-up can be held off, to avoid awkward situations, and applied later, at a safe time. The player cannot have more than one level held in reserve at a time.**_

Noticing that the Attribute and Proficiency points were marked like URL links, Layla pressed the 'Attribute Point' one, opening up another page of information.

_**Attribute Points measure the player's overall skills. These are listed as Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Luck. Strength is your ability to lift heavy objects, strike and defend powerful blows, and is used in Intimidation Skill checks. Vitality is your health, it determines how much of a beating you can take a stand back up, and will affect your maximum health pool, how much damage you take, and your health regeneration speed. Dexterity is how well you can move your own body, allowing you to bend around attacks and handle weapons efficiently, whilst synergizing with strength. Wisdom is your ability to use your Mind correctly, it will determine how much Aura you have, how efficiently you use your Aura, and how swiftly you learn Proficiencies. Finally, Luck if how generally lucky you are, causing events, potentially good like a critical blow, or bad like a very tough enemy, to occur based on how lucky you are.**_

'Hmm.' Rubbing her chin, Layla took a moment to process all that. It seemed like her ability would affect her physically and outside of her own body, not messing with her mind in any way. That was good. It would have been weird to have an Intelligence stat, then start off practically brain-dead before turning into Einstein. Pushing Proficiencies, Layla cracked her back, watching the Sun slowly set with a tiny smile. It was beautiful.

_**Proficiency Points are the currency of individual skills. These are FAR more specific than Attributes. Some examples are as follows: Daggers, Swords, Spears, Archery, Stealth, Evasion, Dodging, Pickpocketing, Swimming, Sprinting, Hunting, Foraging, Farming, Wood-cutting, Dancing, Jumping, Lying, Stealing, Building, Crafting, Digging, Walking. Some Proficiencies will synergize with active Abilities and grant bonuses.**_

'That...was a fucking lot.' Layla thought to herself as she gazed over the list. Apparently, that was only 'some' examples. With a roll of her shoulders, Layla leaned back and mentally nudged the 'Abilities' link.

_**Abilities are powers, either Passive or Active, which affect the player in a variety of ways. These abilities are highly varied, and can be unlocked through either special actions such as intensive training or through the reading of documents, scrolls and books. Some examples are as follows: Far Strike, Power Strike, Power Shot, Block, Fire Bolt, Aura Bolt, Aura Shield, Sneak Attack. Basic attacks, such as firing projectiles and swinging a melee weapon are handled by Profiencies, and Skills will supplement their damage.**_

'Okay, that all makes sense I guess. So, how do I see all these...' Layla prodded the Proficiencies link and scanned it for anything that told her how exactly to see her own stats, then used the Attributes link to go back to that page, only to be disappointed again. 'Okay, so I don't actually know what my own stats are...Hey, uhh, Game? I'm sorry for being so rude, I was in a bad situation and didn't honestly blame you. Thank you for giving me this ability, but, can I please have some more help?' She closed her eyes, bowing her head and waiting.

After a few moments, a ringing sound, almost like a gentle bell, called out, and she raised her head, opening her eyes to see the familiar text.

**I suppose even for one such as you, the stress of such a situation should be expected to get the better of you. Very well, I shall aid you. However, insult me as such again and I shall leave you with no help whatsoever. Are we clear?**

'Crystal clear. And...I do mean it when I say thank you. I don't know exactly what would have happened if I was caught, but I have a pretty damn good idea, and you saved me from that with whatever you did. I just...I don't like the idea of not having my voice. Is there...are there any ways I can get my voice back?'

**I'm afraid not. You see, you came to this world with knowledge from your past life. However, some things have inexplicably escaped your notice. Tell me, when you look into your own reflection, what do you see?**

Frowning, Layla shrugged. 'Myself.' She 'said' simply. She always looked a lot like Neo, even in her old life, which was nice considering she always liked Neo.

**That is true. However, what you see is not quite correct. You see Layla, a girl who is only 'similar' in looks to the girl known in RWBY as Neopolitan. However, those two are now one in the same. You are Neo, and Neo is you. Neo's body with Layla's mind so to speak. Now, the reason I cannot fix your voice is that this is actually in part your own fault. Simply by changing what happened in the original version of Neopolitan's life, you avoided the event which took her voice. Thus, the world created ****Xachs Menshun to force you into this situation. Rest assured, you would have always ended up with this...'gamer' ability, even if you did not acknowledge my help. It would simply have been far more...painful.**

Layla's jaw was dropped. She WAS Neo? As in, somehow, instead of Neo being born and living, Layla had basically taken the place of her mind and hijacked her life?

**NO!**

The very large text-box suddenly flaring in front of her face startled Layla immensely, making her fall back over her bedding and onto the floor.

**You did NOT 'hijack' anything! Neopolitan was technically never born. From the moment that body was conceived, it was destined that you would always be the one to inhabit it. Neopolitan does not exist in this world. Get that silly notion out of your head. Neopolitan COULD have existed, just as any child could have existed, but she didn't, and you did.**

**Now then, as I said, I shall aid you. When you attempted to use your menu earlier, I will admit I was feeling petty and blocked your access. By mentally vocalizing 'Status' you will open the menu.**

'Status.' The menu opened up, and Layla quickly glanced down it with a frown.

**Name(s): Layla, Neopolitan**

**Class: Slum-child**

**Level: 1 (55/100 EXP)**

**Title: None**

**Health Points: 115/115 - 3% Regeneration Rate (3.4 Per Minute)**

**Aura Points:120/120 - LOCKED (Cannot use Aura-costing Abilities) \- 4% Regeneration Rate (4.8 Per Minute)**

**STR: 3. 5% Increased Attack Damage, +5KG Carry Strength, +5% Chance to successfully Intimidate Target.**

**VIT: 3. +5 Health Points, 5% Less Physical Damage Taken - Maximum 75%, 1% Increased Health Regeneration Rate.**

**DEX: 8. 5% Increases to Reaction Speed, Attack Speed, Movement Speed, Ranged Weapon Accuracy.**

**WIS: 4. +5 Aura Points, 5% Less Aura Used in Abilities - Maximum 75%, 1% Increased Experience Gain.**

**LUK: 2. 5% Chance of Critical Hit, 5% Chance for bonus loot drop, general luckiness improved.**

***Bonuses stack per point.***

**Lien: 0**

**Now, the help tab might have told you what those stats do, but as you can see, I've added a little note to the end of the Attribute points that tells you exactly what those stats do. Luck is a bit open-ended, I know, but I can't quantify something as nebulous as Luck beyond general luckiness, okay?**

'Hey, I'm not saying anything. Thanks for this...uhh...do you have a name?' Layla rubbed the nape of her neck. 'It'd be nice to have something I could address you by.'

**Ahh, there is no need for that. You see, I said I would aid you, but our time together is coming to a close. The 'tutorial' is ending, and soon you'll be left alone to fend for yourself, so we must hurry. Now then, there are a few systems I cannot cover in time, but I'll give you the gist. Quests will sometimes appear, with an objective, reward, potential bonus rewards, what failure will cause, and if there is one, what the time-limit is. Canon will be trying to fix itself, so don't worry too much about messing time up. Even if you stop Ruby from going to From Dust Till Dawn, she'll still find a way into Beacon, the Universe won't allow that not to happen, it's too pivotal.**

***Ding!***

**A quest has been generated.**

**Kill the rat.**

**Description: There is a rat scurrying around The Nest. Slay it.**

**Victory: 10 EXP, 1x Rat Tail, elation.**

**Failure: Feelings of inadequacy, Rat will attempt to eat your food.**

**Accept? (Yes)/(No.)**

Jabbing a finger out, Layla accepted the quest promptly, immediately spotting the little brown rat scurrying about.

**Rat. Level 1. 10/10HP. 0/0AP.**

Shoving a hand into her pocket, she drew out and flicked open the Switchblade she took from Xachs' corpse. As she tracked the rodent, she had a thought and flipped the blade around instead of holding it normally. With a few moments to focus on dredging up all her childhood knife-throwing experience, she flicked her wrist and sent the blade flying through the air, stabbing the rat through the head.

***Ding!***

**Critical Hit! X2 Max Damage! -14HP. Rat was defeated. +1 EXP.**

Drawing the blade from the creature, Layla watched with wide eyes as the critter fizzled into blue light, leaving nothing behind.

**Oh, right. Sometimes the game will generate things to use as Bobs and Bosses. When defeated, they will disappear after a few moments, leaving behind loot. This can vary from Lien, Dust and normal Fabrics up to specialist items like Skill/Proficiency Books, equipment and items that will grant you bonuses, and more items that to another person would be worthless, but to you could be invaluable. Now then, if you open your Status Menu, you'll see an attached tab named Quest Log.**

Nodding, Layla opened her screen. Sure enough, a taskbar had appeared at the top of the screen, much like a browser tab. Focusing her eyes on it for a moment, it clicked audibly and changed, revealing a Golden screen.

**Success!**

**Kill the rat.**

**Victory: 10 EXP, 1x Rat Tail, elation.**

Layla had to give it to the game, she felt pretty fucking good for only killing a single rat.

**Ahh, but that's not all you did. If you would now vocalize 'Proficiencies'...**

Layla did so, watching a new screen open up.

**Proficiencies:**

**Gamer's Body - Lvl: NaN. Your body is now comparable to that of a video game character. Health Loss will only give you minor pain levelled based on what % of health it removed. Player will die if Health Points reach 0. Health is recovered over time or through use of a bed.**

**Gamer's Mind - Lvl: NaN. Your mind is now comparable to that of a video game character. While light emotions will still be allowed, major emotional distress will be suppressed.**

**Throwing Knives - Lvl: 1 (5/100 EXP). Maximum Lvl: 100. Through use of a thrown attack, you have gained proficiency in throwing weapons. +1% Throwing Weapon accuracy and damage per level.**

'Huh, that's pretty damn neat.' Layla thought to herself. Flipping the switchblade over in her hand, Layla threw it down against the floor, checking her screen and smirking slightly when it gained a single point of experience. 'Well hello grinding. So, if I throw this knife at the ground another 94 times, it'd level my ability up. Presumably, when it levels the amount of experience needed will increase by some amount, right?'

**That is correct. If this were a typical gamer ability, you'd have received Wisdom there for that deduction. Alas, it is not to be. Now then, my time has all but run out, so I have this much left to say. Whatever you do, do not attempt to break the timeline too much. Remaining as close to 'canon' as you possibly are able to can only be helpful for you in the long-run. If you break the timeline too much, predicting future events will become impossible. As long as you stay relatively close to normal, things should turn out just fine, and you'll be able to avoid any...nasty hiccups, shall we say. We wouldn't want you to get gobbled up by a Beowolf because you started sniffing around in the wrong places.**

**Alas, 'tis my time to depart from your humbly crude mind. To you, Layla Neopolitan, I bid you farewell, and I hope you succeed in your endeavours, treacherous as they may be.**

'Thanks...Monty.' She said with a smirk. Having felt the presence in her mind be slightly startled as they left was quite amusing and for good reason. It wasn't likely that the entity was actually Monty Oum re...not really reborn, more reincarnated. But it was still a fun thought. To imagine, Monty Oum just having fun making new Universes for his characters.

With a shrug to herself, Layla opened her inventory and inserted the switchblade, quickly adding the Lien she had in her pockets, the protein bar and string alongside it. Tapping the Switchblade, a smaller pop-up appeared.

**Switchblade - Level 1 Weapon - Damage 3-6HP - 18/20 Durability.**

'Okay, so the Critical Hit dealt the maximum weapon damage times two, then +15% for my Strength, presumably rounded up. So 6, times two for 12, then take 15% of 12 which is...uhh...1.8 ish, then rounded to the nearest number which is two and added to make 14. Yeah, that seems to make sense.' Layla frowned when she saw the durability of her weapon. It was a pretty damn weak weapon, considering even if it got 5HP damage each time it would break before it killed her. Unless it got a critical hit or something.

With a hum, Layla dragged the Switchblade to the avatar-like construct on the left side of the screen, dropping it into the right side slot beside the hand which was flashing. When it didn't actually appear in her hand, Layla frowned and flexed her hand, smirking when the blade slipped up into her hand from her sleeve. That could be really damn handy for Sleight of Hand, not having to actually carry around smaller weapons. Presumably, anything too big to hide up a sleeve wouldn't work like that, but then she could just make it Mechashift into a smaller form, then hide it there.

Yawning, Layla slipped the blade back up her sleeve and made it disappear. First order of business was to get her aura unlocked.

***Ding!***

'Oh for...fucking really? Already? Well hey, i won't turn down experience and loot I guess.' Layla muttered as the opened her status screen and switched over to Quests.

**A quest has been generated.**

**Unlock your Aura.**

**Description: Your Aura is currently locked. Find a Hunter or someone with unlocked aura and convince them to unlock yours.**

**Success: Unlocked Aura, 30 EXP**

**Failure: Aura remains locked**

**Accept? (Yes)/(No.)**

Pushing the Yes button, Layla was startled when a little circular map appeared in the corner of her vision, with a glowing point on one edge. Presumably, that was where she could go to continue this quest. With a mutter about how she wished this shit was simple like Call of Battle or Titanfield, Layla climbed down the ladder to the nest, noticing on the map that her home had been marked.

Well, at least she wouldn't get easily lost any more.

* * *

"Hey there little girl, you can't come in here."

Of course. Of fucking course. Her quest had to have a sadistic sense of humour, sending her to fucking Juniors club. What was quite hilarious was just how the guards were named.

**Junior's Cannon Fodder - Level 5**

**Junior's Cannon Fodder - Level 4**

They were stood on either side of the door, and one of them had his hand held out to stop Layla from getting any closer. This whole not being able to talk thing was gonna be a fucking bitch. With a shrug and a skip in her step, Layla quickly disappeared down the street then looped around the building, unconsciously shifting into moving quietly and not drawing attention to herself. The ratty and torn 'clothes' she was wearing lent assistance to this venture, making it hard to spot her.

***Ding!***

'Oh fuck off, not now.' She made a note to check the notification later. Presumably, it was a sneaking skill or something. Slipping up to a back-door, Layla tested it slowly. Locked, as she suspected. Pulling a pin from her inventory, she contorted it around itself a few times, absurdly grateful that despite their technology Vale had never made the leap to full-on electronic locks everywhere. That'd make lockpicking a far more technical experience. As the first pin clicked up and rested against another piece of the pin...

***Ding!***

'Oh, that's going to get annoying real fucking fast.' She angrily muttered to herself mentally, clicking another pin into place. The lock seemed to be a standard 5-pin tumbler lock, barely a challenge, even for her. Click, click and click, Layla twisted the bobby pin to be rewarded by the lock turning smoothly. Tugging the door-handle down, she swung it open cautiously, tip-toeing into the building and shutting the door behind herself, leaving it locked just in case. 'Okay, first order of business, look less like a street-rat.'

She wanted someone to unlock her Aura, maybe even Junior himself if Layla's luck was especially awful, since she didn't need that kind of attention. But if she just waltzed out into the main part of the club wearing what she was, she'd be out on her ass within seconds. Scavenging through the back rooms of the club and avoiding the occasional club staff who strolled by, she finally struck gold...ish.

There were some black pants about her size, which were nice, but the problem was her upper half still looked like she'd wrestled an Ursa, took a bath in its blood then dived into a Grimm pool...Okay, not quite that bad, but she still looked like a bit of a mess. Her hair still defied reality and remained the perfect pink and brown it always was. Wait...hang on a fucking minute...

'Abilities' She thought, and almost immediately had the overwhelming urge to put a fist through the wall.

**Abilities:**

**Overactive Imagination: This ability was Neopolitan's Semblance, and thus it is now yours. Despite your Aura being locked, you can use it to create illusions. These illusions will shatter if hit, but will alter everyone's perception of reality aside from your own. Costs - 5AP/Minute. Lose 20 AP instantly if Illusion is forcibly broken.**

'...I hate you so much game. Seriously, why the fuck can I use this, but I can't use my aura? Fucking bullshit storyline crap.' She thought as she conjured an illusion around herself, perfectly mimicking Neo's Mistral outfit, down to the hat she wore after Roman's demise, though of course she didn't have Hush, trying to make a weapon out of an illusion would likely end very poorly for her. Far more confident now, Layla walked out of the back area, slipping past a few inattentive club staff and emerging onto the main floor.

The screen really didn't do it justice. The black and white motif was pretty nice, kinda bland though, but it was still absolutely packed with club-goers. The outskirts were more empty, but they were presumably meant to be that way, so bouncers could drag rowdy or drunk people out of the group without having to jostle several dozen dancers on the way out. Scanning the area, Layla spotted Junior, with Melanie and Malachite beside him. Crossing her fingers, Layla looked towards her minimap, and slumped.

'Yep, he's the fucking target, great. Just what I fucking needed, the biggest info broker in the city meeting me face to face.' Rubbing her eyes, Layla double-checked to make sure her illusion still looked solid, noting that her aura had gone down in single-point increments, once every twelve seconds. Slowly approaching the rather imposing man, she was first noticed by Miltia, who elbowed her sister and gestured at her. Melanie gave her a once-over, shrugged, and got back to her drink. When she got close enough, she saw the pop-ups appear over their heads and stalled a little.

**Miltiades Malachite - Level 17**

**Melanie Malachite - Level 18**

**Class - Criminal**

**Title - Junior's Enforcers - +50% Damage when on Junior's Property**

Those were some pretty high levels compared to her measly one. They weren't as tough as Xachs though, which was a scary idea, the thought that Xachs was stronger than these two, who were able to keep up with a First-Year Yang quite handily until she pulled out her Semblance. Again, she thanked the game for giving her the opportunity to snap his neck before he could stop her.

**Junior Xiong - Level 15**

**Class - Mob-Boss/Information Broker**

It was at this moment that Junior noticed her approaching, and after giving her his own once-over, he waved the two sisters away and span around on his stool to look at her. "You lost or something kiddo?" Layla just smirked, using her illusions to conjure up a sign with writing on it. "Huh, okay, that sounds pretty damn easy. Let me guess, can't speak?" She nodded, changing the writing on the illusion. "Hmm, well, unlocking an aura isn't something that costs me anything, but it'll make either me or the girls weak unlocking yours since we have to expend our own aura to unlock it."

Bullshit, it took Pyrrha a fraction of her aura to unlock Jaune's, it was like using a match to start a fire. Unfortunately saying that would reveal too much info. "So, how 'bout this. You stay in the Club for a week, free room and board, and act as a bodyguard for me. By the end of your run, I'll consider you paid off and you can leave. Or hey, maybe you'd like to stick around, I pay well and you can get hammered during the day if you want." Layla shrugged, changing her sign again. "Oh that's fine, I'll get Miltia to give you the rundown on using your aura. I assume you know at least a little self-defence?"

Wincing, Layla shook her head, gesturing with a hand and bringing out her Switch-blade. When Junior warily shifted his position, she quickly changed her sign and put the Switchblade away again. "Right. That sounds like a mighty helpful Semblance you got there. Though, the fact you can use it with your Aura locked is quite intriguing. I've heard of a few people who unlocked their Semblances without their Aura, usually in dire need." It was clear he wanted to know the backstory, but Layla just smirked. "Fine. Well, can I get a name Kiddo?" Layla was about to just put her own name down but hesitated.

The entity told her to try to remain as close to canon as possible...But she really didn't want to give up her own name. Thinking it over for a few seconds, she settled on a compromise and showed it to Junior. "Layla/Neopolitan? What, you got two names?" She nodded enthusiastically, pointing to Layla then herself, then pointing to Neo, waving her hand about a little, then pointing at herself. "Ahh okay, so you'd prefer Layla, and use Neo as what, your Business name?" Thinking a moment, Layla nodded again.

"Fine, whatever works for you I guess. I mean, with that Semblance you could be the most wanted girl in Remnant and still walk around without a care in the world."

***Ding!***

* * *

"Jeez Layla, get your arms up."

Wishing she could curse the little she-devil out, Layla raised her arms and settled her feet again, watching Miltia carefully as she charged forwards. The mismatch between their levels really showed, since even with high dexterity, she had absolutely nothing on Miltia, who was able to roll all around her and attack basically at will. Another kick to her back followed by a scrape of claws, and her Aura dipped again.

With a growl, Layla lashed out, throwing her dagger at the surprised girl and using the opening to grapple her.

Or tried to at least. With her higher base strength attribute, Miltia easily pulled Layla's arms off, flipping her overhead and slamming her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her. With a lazy arm, Layla conjured her familiar little sign, waving it about. "Fuck you Miltia." It read clearly. The reason Layla was being so pounded came about thanks to a new proficiency she unlocked.

**Observation - ****Lvl: 2 (27/200 EXP). By observing numerous people, you have gained the ability to gauge their abilities and skills. Level 1: HP, AP. Level 2:**** Attributes.**

**Miltiades Malachite - Level 17**

**Class - Criminal**

**Title - Junior's Enforcers - +50% Damage when on Junior's Property**

**HP: 275/275.**

**AP: 280/280.**

**STR: 7.**

**VIT:3. **

**DEX:15.**

**WIS:4.**

**LUK:7.**

There were certain things that were added to her UI because of her past knowledge, like knowing who Miltia, Melanie and Junior were, and the levels were presumably there to give Layla at least a chance at gauging other peoples strengths compared to her own. It was quite interesting to know that Junior was actually a lower level than his enforcers, but considering how in the show he hit behind his men until he had to fight back, it was likely he just let the girls do his fighting for him.

The man had a goddamn lock-on missile launcher, it was clear he liked being as far from the fight as possible. But what truly intrigued Layla was just how...weak people seemed. Level 17, and Miltia didn't really have a lot more health or aura than she did. Sure, she was a lot faster and stronger, and luckier, but her Health and Aura didn't increase much.

With a groan, Layla tried to drag herself back into a standing position. She could still make noises it seemed, but that bastards order was specifically for her to 'Stop fucking talking'. No matter what she tried, she couldn't make a single syllable, the order was absolute in that regard. However, she could still laugh, still sigh, groan, rumble, and make noises, she just couldn't speak.

She ended up 'telling' Junior this, and his only response was to shrug. His Semblance should have stopped acting upon her when he died, so the fact that it didn't meant was baffling for Junior. The information broker didn't like being baffled, but Layla couldn't really offer any more information. He told her to stop speaking, she killed him when she caught him unawares, and she still couldn't speak.

Being unable to talk was very good for withholding information. Hard to read someone who simply sat there with a bland face and used signs for everything. With a thought, she registered how much health she had left and dropped her arms. It was weird, her health was visible in the bottom left of her vision at all times, yet all she had to do to know what HP or AP she had left was to just think about it, and she would just know.

"You're done for today?" Layla nodded. "Right, you need to work on your dodging and evasion, since you can't really take a hit." Layla rolled her eyes at that. Of course she couldn't take a hit, she was still only level 1 after all. So far, she'd managed to unlock a couple of her proficiencies and abilities, but they were still pretty low-level. "You managed to catch me off-guard there by using your illusion to conceal your knife and throw it, so many work on being an ambush-fighter?" With a smirk, Layla pointed towards where the blade was thrown, showing Miltia that she actually threw the knife, not an illusion. "Right. Well, maybe use an illusion to fake it out, then you don't throw your own weapon away."

With a smile, Layla dug her knife out of the ground, wincing when it practically fell apart in her hands. She tried to avoid using it because it had such little durability, but she forgot it only had a single-use left. Sighing, Layla picked up the scattered pieces.

**Knife-Parts. These components can be used in crafting or modification.**

'Huh, that's kinda like Fallout.' She thought to herself, not noticing Miltia slipping up behind her and looking at the scattered pieces of metal with a whistle. "Jeez Layla, how hard did you throw that thing?" Shrugging, Layla pocketed the parts, brushing her hands off and walking to the door. Junior had a little gym-room buried within the Club, which was where they did their sparring and exercising. What sucked was that no matter how much weight-lifting she did, she didn't get an extra Strength attribute, leading Layla to believe that this was not going to be as easy as those stories made it out to be, grinding a ton of Strength by lifting weights, Dexterity by doing parkour, or anything like that.

"So, you give much thought to Junior's offer?" Layla just gave Miltia a deadpan look. Junior offered her an actual job doing what she was already doing, guarding the club. It paid pretty well, 860 Lien an hour. That sounds like an absolute ton, but actually it came out to about £10 an hour. That was still good money, and Layla also got a Quest when he offered to keep her on. The quest just sealed the deal.

**Quest.**

**Find a job.**

**Description: Junior has offered you a Job. Accept this job, or find your own work.**

**Success: Employment, 50EXP, 10EXP per day spent working.**

**Failure: Unemployment, no income, homelessness.**

**Accepted.**

The 50 EXP dump was nice, but that recurring EXP gain was really handy early-on. She was currently sat at 96/100 EXP, so this would push her right into Level 2. Taking a guess, she presumed the EXP needed would double with each level. So Level 2 was 200, then 400 for 3, 800, 1200 and so on. Sure, past level 3 it'd take ages to level up just by using the job, but by then Layla would probably have found a better way to get EXP. All she had to do was hunt down Junior and accept the work.

Popping a new sign out, Layla waved it above her head as she tugged the door open. "Oh, Junior's probably up in his office. So, can I take that to mean you accepted his offer?" With a wave of her hand, Layla left the Gym and began walking through the back-rooms of the club, passing a few quite literally Nameless Goon's. Presumably if she learnt their names it'd update, but since she saw them as nothing but Nameless Goons, her Game called them as such. Most of the guys under Junior's employ were level 4 or 5, with civilians being level 1 and a few very rare level 2s.

Passing one who actually had the name Jerry, Layla made a point to give him a wave and a smile. She remembered him as the one who ran the bar itself when Junior wasn't doing so. He was a pretty swell guy, only level 3, didn't get into fights much. All in all, a pretty nice lad. Hopefully when Yang came busting through he wouldn't be one of the poor guys who got their asses handed to them.

Arriving at Junior's office, she knocked a few times and waited, rocking back and forth on her feet and whistling softly, another sound she was able to make. "Come in." Junior's gruff voice called her in, and she opened the door to almost fall over in surprise. Junior was sat at his desk like usual, but a familiar Orange-haired and flamboyant thief was stood by the window looking down at the dance floor. "Neo." Junior thankfully used her 'business' name when in the presence of others. If he decided to call her Layla in front of Torchwick, that'd really fuck with Canon. Sure, a name isn't that important, but she was warned to keep to canon, so that was what she was going to do.

**Roman Torchwich - Level 27**

**Class: Criminal**

**Title: Gentleman Thief - 15% chance to trigger no police response during Robbery Events.**

**HP: 405/405.**

**AP: 430/430.**

**STR: 6.**

**VIT:7.**

**DEX:14.**

**WIS:12.**

**LUK:8.**

Flashing her sign out, Layla held it up beside her head with a smile. "That's great kiddo. Well, I don't really need to explain much to you, you should know it all already. Just...do what you were already doing. Oh right, I'm gonna take a stab in the dark here and guess you don't exactly have a Lien Account?" She shook her head. It had come out that she was using an illusion to hide her clothing, but Junior just chuckled and exclaimed that it was a good way to save money, but not something she should rely on all the time.

Not that she would be able to do that anyway. She could hold her illusions up for 24 minutes before they dropped, which meant she couldn't actually hang around on the dance-floor using them. To cover this, Junior simply took her out and got her a tailor-made outfit exactly like her illusion, hat and all, which was nice. She had to do three extra days to cover it, but having that outfit actually be on her body was so worth it.

'Oh right, the hat.' Glancing over at Torchwick again, she saw that he had his familiar hat, and hers was practically identical, the only difference being that his had a tiny feather in the brim whereas hers was clear. Deciding to have some fun, she pointed at the thief, who still had his back turned to them, then lifted her hat and spun it about. "I did notice your hat was similar to his Neo." That drew his attention, and the man finally turned around, freezing up when he spotted her stood there with a cocky grin and the hat twirling on her finger. She stuck a sign up at him.

"Well, hello to you as well. So, that hat, deciding to follow your role model?" Snorting, Layla shook her head, fizzling her sign to change the words. "Well, that's just rude." Sticking a hand out, Torchwick offered her a handshake. "Torchwick. Roman Torchwick. Thief, gentleman, and partne...uhh, never mind." His choice of words was a little odd, but Layla ignored it in favour of taking his hand, giving it a shake or two before taking her hand back. "So Junior, what were you two talking about? I'd normally listen in, but I was a little pre-occupied." He jabbed a thumb behind himself to the window. "Some of the girls down there are real eye-catchers."

"Oh nothing, Neo here just needed her Aura unlocked and took a job from me for a week to pay for it. So now that that's done, she's staying on full-dive." Roman made a humming noise and looked over Layla again. She held up a sign that said 'If you want to ogle the girls, do it downstairs after buying a drink.' Gaffawing, Roman jerked a thumb her way.

"I like her." He said with a grin.

* * *

**Fucking hell I rush-ordered the last little bit of that. I am writing this 15 minutes before this and War Dog are due to go up.**

**So, in comparison, which do you guys prefer? War Dog has much bigger stat numbers, flashier abilities, and Ninja! The Eternal Game has Hunters, Semblances, and Neo! (Neo is my new Best Girl, fuck you all if you disagree. Best Boy still Scarlet though, Hook and Darling are awesome weapons, and his privateer look is amazing.)**

**Like I said at the top, this story is probably gonna get one, maybe two chapters in**** the foreseeable future, since Hana Nanashi and War Dog are...pretty difficult to write.**

* * *

**Name(s): Layla, Neopolitan**

**Class: Slum-child**

**Level: 2 (46/200 EXP)**

**Title: Club-Bouncer - 50% Intimidation success rate to Drunks on Junior's property**

**Health Points: 115/115 - 3% Regeneration Rate (3.4 Per Minute)**

**Aura Points:120/120 - 4% Regeneration Rate (4.8 Per Minute)**

**STR: 3. 5% Increased Attack Damage, +5KG Carry Strength, +5% Chance to successfully Intimidate Target.**

**VIT: 3. +5 Health Points, 5% Less Physical Damage Taken - Maximum 75%, 1% Increased Health Regeneration Rate.**

**DEX: 8. 5% Increases to Reaction Speed, Attack Speed, Movement Speed, Ranged Weapon Accuracy.**

**WIS: 4. +5 Aura Points, 5% Less Aura Used in Abilities - Maximum 75%, 1% Increased Experience Gain, 1% Increased Aura Regeneration Rate.**

**LUK: 2. 5% Chance of Critical Hit, 5% Chance for bonus loot drop, general luckiness improved.**

***Bonuses stack per point.***

**Lien: 3150**

**Proficiencies:**

**Gamer's Body - Lvl: NaN. Your body is now comparable to that of a video game character. Health Loss will only give you minor pain levelled based on what % of health it removed. Player will die if Health Points reach 0. Health is recovered over time or through use of a bed.**

**Gamer's Mind - Lvl: NaN. Your mind is now comparable to that of a video game character. While light emotions will still be allowed, major emotional distress will be suppressed.**

**Throwing Knives - Lvl: 1 (13/100 EXP). Maximum Lvl: 100. Through use of a thrown attack, you have gained proficiency in throwing weapons. +1% Throwing Weapon accuracy and damage per level.**

**Sneaking - Lvl: 2 (11/200 EXP) - The art of being super sneaky. +1% Difficulty to detect per level.**

**Lockpicking - Lvl: 1 (72/100 EXP) - Picking a lock has granted you this ability, be thankful for it. +1% Chance to instantly unlock doors when inserting bobby-pin.**

**Observation -**** Lvl: 2 (29/100 EXP). By observing numerous people, you have gained the ability to gauge their abilities and skills. Level 1: HP, AP. Level 2:**** Attributes.**

**Blocking - Lvl: 3 (145/300 EXP). Blocking attacks from opponents has made you proficient in stopping their damage. +1% Damage Negation per level, maximum 100% when attack is blocked. Armour-piercing will still bypass Block.**

**(Okay, I need to explain this clearer. Say a swing of 10 damage, with 30% AP comes in. I have 50% Damage Negation. 3 Damage will hit the character, and then the 7 remaining damage will be negated by 50%, so I take 3.5, rounded up to 4. In total, I took 7 damage. This way, Layla can never have a true 100% Damage Negation, as AP will still hurt her.)**

**Hand-To-Hand - Level 3 (5/300 EXP). Fighting with your fists is a good way to not worry about durability. +1 to Melee Damage with fists per level. Base Damage is 2.**

**Dodge - Level 7 (177/700). Evading attacks means you take no damage. You just have to be dextrous enough to do so. +1% chance to evade attack when dodging. If Dex is less than half of opponents, chance to dodge is halved. If Dex is less than a fifth of opponents, chance to dodge is quartered.**

**(I know I listed a lot of proficiencies like Woodcutting, Sprinting, Fishing, Dancing and all that, but I'm not going to actively track those. Layla will occasionally mention them and I might assign them a level if necessary, but those will be rare and used mostly as a joke. Only proficiencies that actually matter will be listed, and this list will appear every 5 chapters, with her status appearing at the end of each, to help keep track of the stuff she can do.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm actually...a little in shock right now.**

**The Grim Blade, the genius mind behind Playing Our Roles, actually left a review saying they like my drivel! I...was planning on waiting longer before I began this chapter, but it seems fate has dictated that it shall not be.**

**...Fuck off Neji, nobody likes your Fate bullcrap.**

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

"Just get the fuck out of here."

Layla waved her sign in front of the aggravatingly stupid man, her lips curled into a bored smirk as he sputtered at her. "Fuck you bitch, I paid good money to come in here and get wasted, I ain't listening to no short-stack slut too scared to even speak!" He tried to turn his back on Layla, but a hand on his shoulder and a firm yank sent his stomach twirling straight into her balled-up fist.

Sticking another sign up towards the nearest thugs, Layla folded her arms and stood over the man as he dazedly tried to get back on his feet. She raised an eyebrow when he actually succeeded, and casually leaned to the side to avoid his wild swing, jabbing a foot out and tripping him up. "Just stay down, you prick." Her sign read, and a few nearby patrons actually laughed heartily, enjoying the free show.

As the man was hoisted up by the shoulders, Layla breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to stay out on the floor much longer. Usually, she'd be up beside the bar where Junior and the twins hung out, but several of Junior's men called in sick, and they were already understaffed as it was, so they needed her down there doing crowd control.

Not that she minded. Kicking that guy out gave her 15EXP all on its own, which was pretty nice. Flicking her gaze to her experience bar, she smirked.

**Level 4 - (53/400).**

Her guess, as it turned out, was actually incorrect. Her experience scaled up in hundreds, which meant it would take 1500EXP for Level 15, 500 for Level 5, and so on, going by the visible trend at least. If the EXP needed was to be doubled with every level, she'd quickly run into a sheer roadblock of experience where levelling would take literal years. Presumably, the game would scale up EXP rewards to match, but it still seemed a bit weird to try and calculate something like that. It was much simpler to simply need an extra hundred experience with every level, maybe 200EXP after Level 10, 300 after 20.

But that was all ignorable for now. When she finished the Job quest and levelled up, as promised she held onto the level, and was able to simply 'use' it at will. When in her private room (Well, she shared it with the Twins, but they weren't in.) she levelled up, and no big effect occurred. There wasn't a flash of light or a hint of anything abnormal going on externally.

Internally, Layla felt a bit weird. Having an extra 10 Health and Aura suddenly pop in out of nowhere was not a pleasant experience. But what was awesome was the points she got. One for Attributes and one for Proficiencies. Recalling stories where characters held onto all their points and dumped them all when necessary, Layla just shook her head at that notion. Sure, if you desperately need an ability all of a sudden you can do that, but that's incredibly short-sighted. She didn't profess to play many RPG games, but when she did, she planned her character out, and she already knew what she needed.

Dexterity. Neo was an incredibly dexterous fighter, and Layla honestly felt the same way. It doesn't matter if your sword does infinite damage if you can't land a single hit on your opponent. With this, Layla could pretty much ignore Vitality, put a few token points into Strength and Luck, instead focusing entirely on primarily Dexterity, and to a lesser degree Wisdom.

Being unable to maintain her illusions was a nightmare, so Layla made the executive decision to put her first point into wisdom, which meant her regeneration rate was now 5%, of 6.25AP/M. Overactive Imagination was a 5AP/M cost, so she could now keep her illusions up permanently if need be. Her second and third level Attribute Points went straight into Dexterity, bringing it up to ten.

The way her Proficiency Points seemed to work was by granting her a full level to whatever skill she placed them within. What was strange though was the fact that underneath them all there was an option to put a single point into an empty bar and receive an entirely random Proficiency. With three points available, Layla placed one into this and received Fishing, which was pretty bloody useless.

Her proficiency page seemed quite odd in that it automatically filtered itself. Any proficiencies that were going to be barely used entered a sub-tab of miscellaneous Proficiencies like Walking, Sprinting, and things that really weren't needed in the main group of useful abilities like Sneaking, Hand to Hand, and things of that sort. She held onto the other two levels, since she didn't really have anything that immediately leapt out to her and demanded to be levelled. Besides, in their early levels they levelled up really easily, so putting those points in now didn't make sense like her Attributes did.

Now, if she could actually train her Strength, Vitality and whatnot, it'd be a whole other story, but since she couldn't, those points got spent as soon as she levelled up. Besides, she still needed to get Hush, Neo's Blade-Umbrella made, and then train with that. Presumably, it would have a sub-category of proficiency alongside blunt, blade and shield proficiency, all on its own as such a unique weapon. Perhaps Brolly-Ficiency!

Shaking her head of her weird train of thoughts, Layla swept her gaze over the crowd and frowned.

Quite recently her Observe had hit level 3, and that revealed ages, immediately tipping her off to the fact that she was earlier than she thought. Her own age was 15, which was surprising, she honestly thought she was younger than that based on her height. Then again, Neo always was really short, yet still acted pretty mature and was well-developed. Miltia and Melanie were both also 15, which was a pretty interesting coincidence.

Junior was 31, and Roman was only 26. Learning character ages was pretty cool, but what seriously threw Layla off was a pretty chance encounter involving a blonde kid who had seven sisters and a hero complex...

* * *

"Yes, thanks."

Flickering her sign away again, Layla folded her arms and tapped her foot on the floor as the man behind the counter put her books into a bag. Neo-...no, her outfit had some pockets, but there wasn't exactly a convenient place to stuff several pretty big books, so of course she wanted a bag. Honestly, did he expect her to just carry the books around in her arms.

As he handed her the arms of the bag, she hefted it easily and waved, leaving the shop quickly and stepping out onto the sidewalk of Vale, her precious books in hand. They weren't rare or anything, but considering she was forced to spend apparently 15 years with very little reading material, now that she was getting regularly paid Lien and with 'free' room and board, of course she was gonna get some books to read. Miltia and Melanie didn't have anything but stupid teen magazines and crap.

Which was fine, they were welcome to read whatever they wanted, Layla wasn't one to judge, but their own choices were certainly not what Layla would ever want to read. As she made to pull one of her books out and start reading it, a strangled cry came out from her lips as she was bowled over by a blonde blur coming out of an alleyway. As she recovered from having the air knocked out of her, she finally noticed the boy sat on her and staring with wide eyes at her. Flicking her gaze up, Layla took one look at his numbers and groaned.

**Jaune Arc - Level 1**

**Age - 12**

**Class - Civilian**

**Title - None**

**HP: 145/145.**

**AP: 120/120. - Locked-**

**STR: 3.**

**VIT: 9.  
**

**DEX: 1.**

**WIS: 3.**

**LUK: 4.**

Of course, it was just her fucking luck to run into arguably one of the most important characters in RWBY. Jaune fucking Arc. Pushing the boy off, Layla quickly snatched up her bag and checked on her books. Finding them all in decent order still, she turned a glare on the boy, only to watch as he scurried behind her and used her as a shield. "I'm sorry Miss please protect me fro-"

"JAUNE!"

The cry of what could only be described as a banshee yelled out from the alleyway he fled out of, and Layla had to stop herself facepalming when she saw a similarly blonde girl with glasses come flying around the corner. Nimbly evading the charge of this girl, Layla left Jaune to be bowled over. Being knocked on her ass once was quite enough for her.

"Lav-BWAH!" He tried to say the girl's name, but got hit before he could say anything. As the pair went flying to the floor, Layla beat a hasty retreat, spotting more blondes coming from the alleyway and using a quick illusion to change her appearance. If she hung around Jaune, when it was clear that canon Neo never had contact with him, the timeline would really get messed with. Hopefully, this actually happened to Neo randomly, and he would just completely forget her.

Knowing her luck, that never happened in canon...

* * *

Jaune Arc was 12 fucking years old.

12\. Twelve. She had five years until canon kicks in, during which time she had to be constantly wary of not interfering with the lives of anybody important. At least messing with random civilians wouldn't really get back to canon in a major way considering the butterfly effect was being actively countered by the Game itself. The fact was that canon could never be perfectly followed considering it was never written exactly what Neo did before the story began, so trying to emulate that was practically impossible, meaning she was going to change things like who she spoke to, what she did, and things like that.

Fortunately enough, the game was a step ahead of her, and assured her that as long as she didn't, say, stab Jaune Arc to death repeatedly for knocking her over, Canon would be mostly alright. Of course, remaining as close to canon as possible would be definitely helpful, since it'd make predicting certain events a cinch, but overall it wasn't a huge deal.

One of the biggest things she had to remember was to make absolutely damn sure she wasn't in Junior's Club when Yang comes a-knocking for information on Raven, or at the very least don't be where yang would see and attack her. That'd really mess the timeline up something fierce. Catching Junior's gaze, Layla jabbed a finger at her wrist a few times, a clear gesture for him to check the time.

While she was pretty understanding that a lot of guys hadn't come into work, the club wasn't exactly bouncing at the moment, and she wasn't even meant to be working that day. As Junior glanced at his wrist, he frowned down at it before gesturing at her with a 1/2 sign. So presumably he wanted her until the end of the hour, then she could fob off and go do something more worth her time, like reading.

Reading. An absolute haven of the gods. When she visited the Library, she was pleasantly surprised when a few books out of the tens of thousands stood out to her with icons, revealing them to be proficiency books. One was for fishing, and Layla resisted the urge to tear that damn book apart, while the others were for random things like Wood-cutting, Mechanic, Electrician, Plumber, and really obscure and weird things that really didn't have much of a use.

The thing about the proficiency books was they simply unlocked the proficiency, they didn't give any experience to it, Layla had to actually use the action to gain experience. However, what was really amusing was that by taking all those books into her inventory when nobody was looking, she unlocked a Stealing proficiency, then levelled that along with her stealth proficiency. But, the biggest one, the one that made her want to kiss the author of the book, the one that really tempted her to just whip out those points and level it up...

**Animal Friend - Lvl: 1 (0/100). You have a nack for taming and befriending animals. 1% increased chance to Tame Creature, +1% Tamed Creature Attack Damage, Maximum 100%, +1% Tamed Creature Defence, Maximum 75%, Animals will rarely attack you.**

That proficiency was basically everything Layla loved and more. Killing people? Meh, who cares. Slaughtering a bazillion Grimm? They all are soulless, whatever. But killing a cute and adorable animal? Impossible, un-doable, and irrefutable. Layla loved animals, so being able to confidently say that animals will rarely attack her sounded awesome. And tamed animals sounded pretty awesome. Depending on whether or not they actually levelled as well, they could genuinely become quite powerful.

It was pretty interesting how the proficiencies actually seemed to work, since some things like woodcutting she was pretty sure she could do decently, so her proficiency just stacked on top of her inherent ability. For things like throwing knives, her accuracy would be whatever she was capable of with a completely normal throw, then improved by her Dexterity, before finally her proficiency with throwing knives was applied and her accuracy was improved further.

It made her wonder what'd happen if she got over 100% accuracy, but presumably it meant missing would be almost impossible, even for an enemy with a high dodge ability. A snapped set of fingers in front of her face startled Layla out of her thoughts, and she turned a glare onto a club-goer who had a dopey grin on his lips. "'ey, wha'ssay you n'i go somhere'?"

Layla cursed the gods above as she used an illusion to disappear from in front of him, stifling a laugh when he blinked at the space she was inhabiting, then took a wary glance at the bottle in his hand before shrugging and going back to chugging his drink. Honestly, some people were just complete idiots. With a flourish, Layla dropped her illusion when she was beside Junior and checked her watch.

Ten more minutes of fending off drunken idiots. Joy.

* * *

Roman was having a pretty good evening all things considered, kicking his feet up on his desk and smiling to himself.

He'd finally managed to convince Junior to support him in a joint business venture by loaning his guys out to him on occasion. Only a handful of them, and for small-time gigs only, but it was a start. Hopefully soon he'd be able to start running his own show, using his own hired guys rather than paying another boss to loan them out. Plus it meant he got to decide the cuts everyone got.

Right now Junior was getting 40% of the cut based on the fact it was his guys doing all the heavy lifting, and Roman got 60% for leading the whole thing and planning it all out. All in all, not a bad deal, but Roman didn't want to be giving his hard-stolen Lien away like that. Secondly, he finally got his beautiful weapon from the Smith, Melodic Cudgel. The cane-gun-grapple hook combination weapon was a work of art, and totally worth the Lien. He couldn't just threaten the weaponsmith, the man was far too well-known, and Roman didn't quite have that sort of reputation yet.

But, most importantly, he found out what Neopolitan was up to before she worked with Roman. Apparently she was one of Junior's, which was rather interesting, though it made sense considering Junior also had Miltia and Melanie. Evidently it was a recent thing, considering he overheard her being hired by him. Over the weeks, he'd seen her around the club doing odd-jobs and kicking out drunks. Knowing what she was going to be capable of in the future was amusing when watching her taking her time and stress out on the dregs of society.

What was really surprising was that she wasn't stabbing anything, nor did he see her weapon anywhere. Presumably, either Roman got it for her, or she was simply hiding it for some reason. What really stumped Roman though was how exactly he was meant to approach Neo about her joining him. Just coming up to her out of the blue and asking would be incredibly suspicious, and while he was known and sort-of liked by Junior, just asking him for Neo's contract was a bit much...but maybe...yeah, that'd work.

Setting his shoulders, Roman stood up from his chair and walked over to his spider-web map, pushing a pin into a dust store and binding a string from that to a crude drawing of Neo. With idle fingers he traced the string from Neo to Junior, then from Junior to the dust store he planned to hit.

Smirking, Roman pulled his scroll out and selected Junior, hearing the device ring a few times before a gruff voice answered him. "Roman. What do you need?"

Putting on a mock-affronted voice, Roman gasped. "Agh, Junior, must you wound me so?" A rumble came from the device, and Roman dropped his voice to normal again. "Fine, I wanted to see about getting that Pink-haired girl on the next heist. She seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders, and I want to know if I'd like working together with her more often." Crossing his fingers, Roman waited with held breath and Junior shuffled around something.

"...Give me a minute." Roman hummed, and he heard Junior cover the scroll and yell something. A few moments passed before a muffled and inaudible conversation occurred, and the scroll line was uncovered again. "Fine. She'll be with the team that meets you out on 41st." Stopping himself from doing a little jig at his success, Roman simply cheered.

"Great! Well, I'll try to bring them all back in one piece!"

* * *

"Well hey there squirt."

Resisting a growl, Layla instead glowered at Torchwick, making it clear she didn't appreciate that nickname. Holding up a sign that read a simple "Fuck you.", Layla folded her arms over. "Why the fuck am I even out here anyway?" She changed her sign quickly, looking between Torchwick and the group of thugs he'd hired.

It answered the question of just how Neo got involved with Roman, but she didn't have to make it easy. Not that she didn't like Roman, he had a snazzy outfit, but he was a bit too confident and cock-sure of himself for Layla to be entirely comfortable around him, like nothing could hurt him. Considering his level, that was pretty true around the police and civilians, but against a Hunter, Layla was sure he'd meet his match quite easily. He had a high Dex and Wis, but low Vit, Str, and Luk. Anyone who was faster than him would screw him over, since that was his entire strength.

Well, that and coming up with solid plans. "You're out here because I think you'll be useful and I have Junior's ear for stuff like this." Roman stated plainly.

"So what, you want me to essentially give you a hand with some wetwork?" She said with a frown. Aside from a few small-scale fights against drunks or belligerent idiots, Layla really hadn't gotten into many fights, and that wasn't by accident. She was level 4. As in, stronger than a civilian or police with freshly-unlocked aura, but weaker than experienced officers or even Signal Academy students. If she got into a serious fight, she'd get her ass handed to her just off the fact that her Dex would be too low.

Roman made a so-so gesture. "Sort of. To be honest, when I look at you, I see a shrimp, a little kid playing with the grown-ups. Which immediately makes me underestimate you." Rolling her eyes, Layla used an illusion to appear similar to one of Junior's mooks. "And then you go and do that." He said shaking his head. "Look, your Semblance is strong, but what if it fails? What if you can't keep it up anymore?"

"I can keep Overactive Imagination active permanently, don't worry about that." She made a sign appear from the ground, smirking when Roman took a cautious step back from it. "Oh, and it isn't just on me. I like to imagine that the world is my illusion." She said with a serene smile, internally kissing Monty for making Neo such a blank slate. Neo's Semblance was scarily powerful because of the fact that her illusions were seen by everybody, and she was unaffected by the illusion, though she could choose to see it as well, just to make it easier if she was making something she needed to be able to see.

The easiest way to describe it was that her illusions directly appeared in the world, they weren't something people just 'saw', they were actual entities. Of course, she could also use this to create hiding places or simply remove objects from view. If someone walked into a box she made invisible, the illusion would shatter when hit and the box would appear in view again. She'd probably also get cursed out by whatever fool she made trip over a box, but she got to laugh at one of Junior's newest hires, so it was all good.

Weirdly enough, even if she made an intersecting mesh of illusions over an object, they would all shatter, even if only one of the 'illusionary grids' was hit, almost like the world was able to decide what counted as a single illusion and what didn't. It also explained why her illusions didn't instantly shatter when they touched the floor, since it didn't count as a hit. If she, for example, cast an invisibility illusion over herself then jumped from a building and landed without taking damage, the illusion would hold. If she was damaged even slightly though, it'd break.

"Wait, woah woah hold the ph-...scroll. You mean to tell me you can keep your illusions up 24/7?" Tilting her head to the side, Layla shook her head. "So, what, is there a time limit, some kind of condition? Maybe you have to sacrifice five virgins a month to retain your abilities?" He said with a grin. Another sign sprouted up out of nowhere. This time Roman didn't step back, though he did lean away slightly from it.

"Not while I'm asleep."

* * *

**A fuckton shorter, I know.**

**Fact is, I don't spam tons of shit like 'SOME' stories about random information. I mean, take her proficiencies. I plan to keep this condensed so I don't absolutely bloat the word-count with crap. She'll, as I said, make mention of Proficiencies like mechanic, crafting, fishing and whatnot when necessary, but that stuff will all remain off-screen and mostly untracked. The important stuff will, as mentioned at the end of last chapter, be listed every 5 chapters, with her Status screen being at the bottom of each chapter so you can see Layla's progression.**

**Also, how do you like this version of Roman? Quick thing, he doesn't have the Game, he's just a reincarnate. I thought having this new relationship between the two where they don't quite know that the other knows about the RWBY timeline would be quite fun, and it will make avoiding the whole 'I know the future' schtick a breeze.**

**Don't forget to leave some lovely reviews. I read each and every one, and to those who either require a response or are just awesome enough, I make sure to send a PM back. I don't mind if the review isn't positive, as long as you point things out instead of saying you just don't like it, I'll be happy for it!**

**Anyways, here's Layla's Status and new/changed proficiencies.**

* * *

**Name(s): Layla, Neopolitan**

**Class: Slum-child**

**Level: 4 (53/400 EXP)**

**Title: Enforcer - 15% Damage Increase when on Heists**

**Health Points: 115/115 - 3% Regeneration Rate (3.4 Per Minute)**

**Aura Points:125/125 - 5% Regeneration Rate (6.25 Per Minute)**

**STR: 3.**

**VIT: 3.**

**DEX:10.**

**WIS: 5.**

**LUK: 2.**

**Proficiencies:**

**Stealing - Lvl: 3 (227/300). You've been pinching things from places that aren't yours, good for you! +1% Chance to successfully steal item without detection per level.**

**Sneaking - ****Lvl: 4 (379/400 EXP) - The art of being super sneaky. +1% Difficulty to detect per level.**

**Animal Friend - Lvl: 1 (0/100). You have a nack for taming and befriending animals. 1% increased chance to Tame Creature, +1% Tamed Creature Attack Damage, Maximum 100%, +1% Tamed Creature Defence, Maximum 75%, Animals will rarely attack you.**

**(The thing is, Proficiencies act like extra buffers atop Layla's own actions. If she was already an expert thief, Stealing would just make her better. If she sucked at it, Stealing would improve her drastically. Now, if any of you can think of extremely useful Proficiencies that aren't really obvious like Archery, Swordsmanship, Parkour, etc, please give them a shout to me in either a review, or if you're a bit shy about your ideas you can just PM me. Thanks boos!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know, I know, Overactive Imagination isn't that powerful actually, but this is my version, and it's fucking terrifying. Layla isn't going to be getting any bullshit like Mana Arrows or Elemental affinities. To make up for it, she's going to have a lot of proficiencies, some of which are really awesome, like Animal Friend, alongside her Semblance being scarily powerful.**

**As mentioned in the first chapter, she will be able to learn some skills like Aura Bolt, which condenses her aura into a thin lance of energy then solidifies it and propels it like a bolt. Then she can learn to enhance its damage with fire, ice, lightning or whatever.**

**Also, when a Line-Break occurs, often it'll be a perspective change, since I'm going to jump between Layla and 'Roman' a lot. So, anybody got a fun old-world name for the guy currently masquerading as Roman? I might make it so he doesn't care too much about his old name, he basically fully embodies Roman Torchwick, with the extra knowledge of course.**

**Finally, proficiencies. Layla will sometimes use skills she hasn't actually been seen using, nor have they been listed. For example, one day she might just decide to go fishing, and so she'll use that proficiency to do so, but because I'm lazy, I'm not gonna bother keeping track of it.**

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

"P-leeease, heeeelp..."

A croaky voice rasped out slowly, attracting the attention of the lone guard for the store. He checked the door very quickly, just to ensure it was locked, then drew his baton and swiftly approached the alleyway. As he rounded the corner, a gasp slipped past his lips as he laid eyes on a charred body. Their back was a crispy black, with streaks of crimson blood, and their eyes...they were gone, completely. Empty sockets looked about helplessly as the poor soul rasped their pained breaths out.

As the guard settled on one knee to try and help the poor person, a quick smack on the back of the head knocked him out, and Neo quickly dispelled the illusion. "Y'know, that's a mighty scary ability there." Roman remarked. And it was. In his honest opinion, Neo was capable of some scary stuff. It wasn't just a visual illusion, it could cause auditory, olfactory, somatosensory and even gustatory illusions.

That means not just sight, but hearing, smell, touch and taste were affected. If Neo wanted to, she could make someone feel the pain of being kicked in the balls repeatedly, forced to swallow Cyanide, have their eyes gouged out, with Ghost Pepper paste smeared across their tongue and Hot Sauce squirted up their nostrils. All without laying a finger on them.

Of course, as soon as someone actually did something to them physically the illusion would shatter, but in the interlude between starting the illusion and it being broken, she could mentally rape somebody to the point of permanent insanity. "Just...promise you'll never use it on me." Roman muttered, shuddering when she turned a saccharine smile on him, and held up a sign. "...Sure, I'll get you some barbecue ribs later on."

It was weird, Roman assumed that Neo's favourite food would be at the very least Ice Cream of some kind, and that she'd demand he take her to an Ice Cream parlour for a bribe, but nope, she wanted to be taken to a very specific Barbecue joint and given a full-rack of ribs. It wasn't really a very expensive joint, so he wasn't being gouged for a joke, and it seemed Neo was genuinely excited about getting to have some ribs, so who was he to complain.

Pointing at the guard, Neo rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, prompting several of Junior's guys to jump to attention and grab the man, tossing him behind a dumpster. It was quite funny seeing this diminutive little girl ordering around grown men like that...huh. "Hey Neo?" She turned to look at him from her position at the end of the alleyway, peering out to see if anyone was coming. "Just curious, how old actually are you?"

Tilting her head, she fiddled with her fingers as though counting for a second before sticking one up in one hand, then all her digits in the other, putting the one before the rest and grinning. "Wait, you're fucking 15?" She nodded emphatically. "...Right. So, what about Miltia and Melanie?" She zipped her lips quickly. "Oh, right, girly secrets or some crap right?" She nodded and leaned out again, twisting her head to look the other way then turning around and nodding once at him. "Right then, let's get this show on the road."

The small group burst out of the alleyway and huddled around the door. Roman made to blow it open with a small round of dust, but Neo quickly pushed his cane down with a huff, pulling out a pin and shaking her head. "And you also know how to lockpick..." He muttered. Within mere seconds the door clicked open, and Neo quickly replaced her pins...somewhere...before waltzing into the store and hopping up on the counter, sitting down cross-legged and gesturing at the dust.

All the guys hopped to it, leaving Roman a little peeved. "Hey, you know, I'm supposed to be the one running this whole gig?" Neo just shrugged, kicking her feet about and fiddling with something in her hands. When he tried to get a peek she hid her hands and glared at him. Actually glared, not just a weak 'don't try to look at this or I'll be sad' glare, but a 'try that again and I'll break your neck' glare. "Woah woah, okay!" He raised his hands placatingly. "Point received."

* * *

Satisfied that Roman wouldn't try to peek again, Layla gave another gaze at the faintly-rusting hunk of metal in her hands.

It wasn't that if he saw it anything bad would happen, he'd probably dismiss it out of hand, but it was...personal. Layla didn't really profess to care too much about anybody in her new world, but her mother always loved her, even when she was such a strange child. She had a weak aura, and she could manipulate metal a little with her semblance, but never anything more than that. Despite that, one day, she made Layla a little model.

The model wasn't bigger than her palm, but it was an intricately designed piece of metal, shaped to resemble an ice cream. When she gave Layla that little piece of metal, the pair had no idea that it'd be only a few more days before her mother would be dead. Layla still faintly remembered her old-world mother, the woman had died a long time ago by then but she still remembered her face, even after all those years. Her old-world father was still alive, but they were estranged when Layla died.

She didn't know Neo's father. Presumably, he had disappeared during her mother's pregnancy, and as such didn't warrant even a single thought in Layla's opinion. But her mother decided to stay with her, through all that she could. Layla could have quite easily been given up to an orphanage and her mother could have moved on, or simply been aborted, but the woman tried her absolute best, and Layla was honestly thankful for every moment she spent with the woman, even if she had to watch as her mother got thinner and thinner, giving Layla more of her food so she wouldn't suffer the same fate.

Twisting it over in her hands once more, she pocketed it and glanced around. Most of the dust tubes had been filled, and the crystals were being bagged up quickly. Bringing her menu up without moving, she hopped off the counter and began throwing some crystals into a bag of her own, watching with a smirk as each crystal added some experience to her stealing proficiency.

It was annoying to learn that she had to directly perform the actions of stealing, even if she was the one doing the commanding, but she supposed it made sense. Just watching them taking things wasn't going to make her better at stealing. And of course, just taking things from an empty shop also wasn't going to make her improve, but since she was doing it directly, Layla supposed the Game counted it.

With a flourish, she flipped a crystal up into the air, caught it on her finger, spun it around then threw it again and caught it in the bag, turning to see Roman giving her an amused look. She eloquently stuck her tongue out and ignored him, drawing a laugh from the man. Roman didn't seem too bad to be honest. The anime never really showed him doing anything too bad. Arguably the worst thing he did was run the train into Vale, but considering he was being forced into it Layla didn't blame him. When he fought Ruby on the first episode, he didn't look like he was aiming to kill, he just wanted to get away.

A loud crashing noise from the back of the shop drew Layla's attention. She hopped off the counter she was sat on, leaving her bag behind and wandering over to where one of Junior's goon's was sat on his ass rubbing his head, scattered crystals of dust around him. "Seriously? Idiot." She put a sign up as she yanked him onto his feet and pointed at the dust with a glare.

"Sorry boss." Boss huh? She could get used to that. With a roll of her eyes she just gestured to the dust again and watched as he sheepishly grabbed his bag. Honestly, he was lucky that wasn't activated dust. if it was a live crystal, the block would probably have been blown sky-high, even with the rest of the dust in the store not being active.

That was an interesting thing, dust worked in a pretty weird way. There were crystals, powdered dust, but then you had a variant of each called activated dust, which was the type used for weaponry and whatnot, because it burned far faster, and far stronger. De-activated dust was the kind used in vehicles, lights, power generators and whatnot, it was far less volatile and safe, to the point any ordinary civilian could get their hands on it. Activated dust was like military-grade ammo from her old-world, you had to be licensed to get it.

"Chop chop, get a move on times a'wastin here!" Neo gave Roman a dead-pan look, and he just shrugged. "What can I say, I like the accent?" Neo made a vague stabby motion, and he blanched a little. That was...interesting. "Okay okay, I won't talk like that. Yeesh, bossy boots much."

Ignoring Roman, Layla gave another sharp glance at the mook who fucked up, and when she was sure he was sufficiently cowed wandered back to the front of the shop, just in time to see several guys leaving the place and venturing down the alleyway. Snapping her fingers a few times, the last of the guys quickly hurried up and fled the building, with Roman twirling his cane as he exited.

Just to be cheeky, Neo closed and re-locked the door, snickering to herself silently.

* * *

_**Update Log!**_

**A new tab has been added to The Game: Perks!**

**Perks can be unlocked through special actions, and will grant bonuses based on certain factors. For example, the Expert Woodworker perk will grant a 50% Quality Increase to crafted Wood items. There are also perks like "Tough-Gal!" which will grant direct bonuses to Attributes. These can be unlocked through certain activities like Weight-Lifting, Cardio, Games of Chance, etc, and will be incredibly beneficial. Repeated actions will level perks and increase the benefit gained.**

Layla stuck her middle finger up at the air and swore to herself that if she ever got her hands on the entity controlling her game, she'd punch them in the tits.

Simply translated, her ability was now actually incorporating her hard work. Since Melanie and Miltia considered her too weak, she had been dragged into the Gym repeatedly to do weight-lifting and stuff, and because of her bullshit abilities, it never made a lick of difference to her strength stat. Sure, it was now being fixed, but what about all those hours she spent witho-...oh.

**New Perk - Novice Body-builder - "You been hitting the weights? You look bigger." - Grants +1 to STR per rank. Increased by weight-lifting. Current Rank: 3**

So, considering it was Rank 3, presumably, it was retroactively calculating all the strength training she did with the twins, which was nice of the game. Flexing her arm, Layla glanced around the room she was living in, settling her eyes on a dresser before strolling over and attempting to lift the filled furniture.

Before, she wouldn't have budged it an inch. Now that she had an extra three points of strength, she could-

"NEO! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" A rather obnoxiously loud yell came through the door, leading Layla to frown and close her menus, quickly standing from her bed and nipping through the door, racking her mind for reasons why she'd be yelled at like that. It sounded like Junior, but he never really raised his voice, so she wasn't sure. Taking a guess, she turned towards the gym and wandered down at a jog, passing a few slightly disturbed goons who looked at her in confusion.

Peeking around the door to the gym, Layla took in the scene with quick eyes, before falling over clutching her stomach as she cackled silently. Junior was stood in the centre of the gym, with a few autonomous training dummies laying around him, and a few dozen giant shards of porcelain around his feet. "Layla, you get one chance. What, the fuck, did you do?" He carefully enunciated, keeping his voice level even if it looked like he wanted to go find his rocket launcher.

Reigning in her laughter, Layla wiped a tear from her eye, trying to stand up, before grinning widely. "Well, Melanie told me that I was just hopeless, that I might as well just throw everything at my opponent, including the kitchen sink...so I did." Junior looked like he couldn't decide whether to be amused or furious, so his face just did a kind of slump, as he gave up trying to rationalize Layla's actions. "Several, actually..."

With a drawn-out sigh, he gestured towards the mess with his arm. "Just...just tidy it up." When Layla raised her arm, he glared at her. "Without blackmailing any of my guys into doing it for you." She swung her arm back down with a frown. It wasn't her fault her abilities were great for gathering blackmail. Like how one guy frequently tried to hide in the room she and the twins lived in so he could spy on them, the perv. Or the other guy, who snuck bottles from the bar and hid them around the place, gathering them up when he was sure he wouldn't get caught and taking them home.

The first one she ratted out immediately since it was just creepy to see him in there. Needless to say, after what Junior did to that mook, none of the others even considered entering the room she shared with the twins. The second one was much more harmless, but it was nice to have blackmail to hold over peoples heads. Especially since it meant if she ever needed to do something, or have something done, they'd be more than willing once she reminded them of their dirty little secrets.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a tiny voice told her what she was doing was mean, but then vindictively added suggestions for better ways to use said blackmail.

* * *

_'Power-Strike!'_

Swinging her fist, Layla uprooted the little metal dummy from its base, sending the husk of metal careening through the room before coming to a short and sudden stop, buried an inch deep into the concrete wall. Hearing slow claps from behind her, Layla quickly spun and bowed dramatically to the amused visage of Roman. Looking over her shoulder, she smirked whilst her face was concealed before 'breaking' her illusion and placing a new dummy in the centre of the room.

It wouldn't do to let on how strong she actually was, so playing the whole thing off as an act was for the best. "So, Junior told me a funny story recently..." Groaning, Layla flipped Roman the bird. "Oh come on Neo, it's funny. Well, I don't think Junior thought it was funny, but I did. Honestly, throwing a literal sink, why didn't I think of that?" She threw up a derogatory sign and turned away from the flamboyant thief, kicking her leg up into the throat of another dummy, then using it's shoulder as a pivot-point, hooking her foot on the back of its neck to spin around and throw herself at another dummy. "Woah."

She heard Roman's surprised remark, but she was far too busy making sure she didn't end up- *CRASH!* 'Ow.' Shaking her head, Layla grit her teeth and punchd the dummy in the face, pissed off that she still wasn't quite dextrous enough to pull that move off without faceplanting into the ground. It didn't help that Roman was laughing his ass off at her. Or, at least he was until a dagger ended up embedded in the wall right beside his head.

He gulped and looked between her and the dagger. "Point taken." Grinning, Layla skipped over to rip the weapon from the wall, looking at Roman with sharp eyes. "What? I don't have a cookie for you." Glaring, Layla looked between him and the dagger a few times, a thoughtful expression coming across her face as if realizing the solution to some great mystery. "Alright fine, I have another job, and Junior has oh so kindly agreed to give me you to work with, alongside a half-dozen mooks." Frowning, Layla held up a sign.

"Fine. If you must know, there's a dust shop out by the sea-front which just got a shipment of some high-class weaponry, along with plenty of activated dust ammunition for them. I've made no secret I want to get my own crew, and to do that I need guns, I need dust, and I need lien. Junior's knows I'm good enough to guarantee he gets a cut, and you yourself get paid a bonus for your...hard work." He gestured at the training dummies strewn about the room, several of the autonomous ones sparking lightly. Holding another sign up, Layla grinned. Playing as Neo, a little...psychopathic and unreasonable was definitely a bad influence on her.

But that didn't mean it wasn't fun.

* * *

When Roman said the shop was on the sea-front, he didn't mention just which seafront it was.

And so it was that Layla found something about Neopolitan, feared assassin and partner to Roman, which wasn't pleasant. She hated the ocean. It was weird. Layla in her old life never had any kind of thalassophobia. Glass-bottom boats were one of her favourite ways to travel, seeing the ocean through the floor of a boat. But when she peeked over the edge of the boat they were on, she felt an irrational fear try to make her panic. Fortunately, it was rather muted, presumably Gamer's Mind hard at work suppressing the majority of that fear. She still felt a little afraid of the water, but nothing overwhelming. In all honesty, she found it amusing. To think that such a strong and feared character was herself afraid of deep water.

Then again, in this world, the oceans really had megalodons hiding within the inky darkness, waiting to consume anything which entered their domain. For a moment, she pondered the possibility that there were genuinely megalodon-sized Grimm sharks out there in the deeper parts of the ocean, then was thankful that there were aircraft in Remnant, so she didn't have to go in the ocean. Sure, there were flying Grimm, but she'd take them over massive Grimm-sharks any day of the week.

Fortunately enough, the boat was only going to Patch, the large island off the coast of Vale, so they didn't have long to spend over the water. Didn't make her feel any better, and she vowed that if Roman ever tried to get her on a boat again, he'd definitely be regretting it. "Aww, come on Neo, look sharp. What's the matter, scared of a little water?"

Scratch that, he was gonna be missing body parts by the time the boat arrived on Patch.

* * *

**I'm sorry this took so long. I ran into a writer's block a mile wide after writing the initial robbery scene. I'm honestly going to probably go back over this chapter later and add some more substance, ending it here feels wrong, but you lovelies have waited long enough for a new chapter!**

**Please, leave some shiny tasty reviews, I love to hear from you all, and don't forget that I do have other stories!**

* * *

**Name(s): Layla, Neopolitan**

**Class: Slum-child**

**Level: 4 (192/400 EXP)**

**Title: Enforcer - 15% Damage Increase when on Heists**

**Health Points: 120/120 - 4% Regeneration Rate (4.8 Per Minute)**

**Aura Points:125/125 - 5% Regeneration Rate (6.25 Per Minute)**

**STR: 6 (+3).**

**VIT: 4 (+1).**

**DEX:12 (+2).**

**WIS: 5.**

**LUK: 2.**

**Perks:**

**Novice Body-builder - "You been hitting the weights? You look bigger." - Grants +1 to STR per rank. Increased by weight-lifting. Current Rank: 3**

**Novice Tanker - "Jeez, you should get yourself patched up." - Grants +1 to VIT per rank. Increased by taking damage. Current Rank: 1**

**Novice Athlete - "Gotta keep up with that cardio, yo!" - Grants +1 to DEX per rank. Increased by exercising. Current Rank: 2**

**Inept Book-worm - "Jeez, you have ADHD or something?" - Grants +1 to WIS per rank. Increased by researching. Current Rank: 0**

**Inept Gambler - "You're unluckier than a female whore in a gay bar!" - Grants +1 to LUK per rank. Increased by playing games of chance. Current Rank: 0.**

**(Just an FYI, Layla's class, Slum-Child, will change eventually to something more fitting. But, for right now, she still identifies as that.)**


End file.
